Grand Prix with a twist: The CyberMotion Simulator

This article was taken from the December issue of Wired
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Want to experience driving an F1 Ferrari? Sit on this flexible
robot arm

Most F1 drivers need years
of practice before making it to a Grand Prix. Scientists at the
Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics in Tübingen,
Germany, need only the CyberMotion Simulator. The simulator, made
by Paolo Robuffo Giordano and his colleagues, is a RoboCoaster
industrial robotic arm adapted and programmed to simulate an F1
Ferrari F2007.

The team uses CyberMotion to understand how humans perceive and
react to motion. "We've looked at how people drive down slaloms,
and the effects of disruptions on their driving," says
Giordano.

Testers are strapped into a cabin two metres above ground, and
use a steering wheel, accelerator and brake to control CyberMotion.
The simulator can provide accelerations of 2G and its display shows
a 3D view of the circuit at Monza. The arm's six axes allow for the
replication of twists and turns on the track and can even turn the
subjects upside down.

Simulators are not a new concept, but this is the first one
attached to a robotic arm. At the Berlin Air Show in June, the team
showed off a version of the arm running a helicopter sim, which
they hope to develop commercially.